The Skit in Uniform

Early one morning, outside an Armed Forces induction center, three young people staged a short street skit against the Vietnam War, repeating it several times over two hours. One of them wore an Army blouse, shoulder patch and an officer's hat. In the skit, performers with water pistols shot a person dressed as an enemy soldier, and red liquid spurted out to look like blood. The uniformed performer was prosecuted under a federal law forbidding unauthorized wearing of the uniform of the armed forces. A separate law allowed actors to wear uniforms in a theatrical production, but only if the portrayal did not tend to discredit the armed forces. The defence argued the skit was theatre and that the restriction violated free speech.